New Delhi, June 13 -- The United States dominated Paraguay 4-1 in their opening match of the World Cup on Friday in Los Angeles with a first-half brace by striker Folarin Balogun for a dream start to their home campaign in Group D.

"Amazing result," US captain Tim Ream said."It's exactly the way we wanted to start the tournament."

The US broke through Paraguay's vaunted defence in the seventh minute when Christian Pulisic deftly split two players and found Weston McKennie, whose crossing pass was kicked into the net by Damian Bobadilla for an own goal.

Shortly after the first-half hydration break, Pulisic raced with the ball up the left side and sent a perfect cross to Balogun, who angled his shot past the diving goalkeeper Orlando Gil...